brett fritzler's Passions

brett fritzler's Bio

I use my MultiMounts with a 4" diameter PVC tube for fishing rods. Numerous 12 hr trips to Canada and back and no problems. Never had a strap loosen, always very secure. Use the Yakima Accessory Lock Housing ( http://www.backcountry.com/yakima-accessory-lock-housing) to make sure nobody steals your mounts in the parking lot. These mounts have opened up a lot of space inside the cab of my truck. Its hard to transport 7ft fishing rods and four people with all their Boundary Waters gear inside an SUV, but the Multimounts solved that problem.

This is my second BA Air Core pad. I bought the insulated version for colder weather camping. Guess what, it actually weighs slightly LESS than the regular version, at least on my digital scale. This pad is sooooo comfy at 2.5" and does a good job against the cold. It takes me between 17 and 20 breaths to blow it up. Kind of a pain but the good nights sleep is worth it. I'm a side sleeper and my hips are never sore anymore. The price, weight, packable size, and warmth of this pad simply cannot be beat. As happy as I am with this pad I am disappointed that mine has apparently developed a leak after less than 14 bag nights. It's a very slow one and I can't hear any hissing, I think it might be a manufacturer defect at a seam. I'll be taking it back to the "other" gear store and getting a new one. Would have got five stars otherwise.

I got the 78 inch bars. They actually measured about 80" but I didn't mind because I wanted them long. They seem to be coated well and appear very durable. The bar endcaps did not fit very securely though. For peace of mind I put black aquarium silicone inside each cap before jamming it on the bar. I think the caps should fit better out of the box.

I have a 1998 Land ROver Discovery and fitting a roof rack to it was very difficult. The yakima towers were too short and rubbed the sides. So I bought the Thule Super High Foot towers. These towers are tall enough to clear the domed roof and the factory rails. They fit very securely to the gutter. I have complete faith in these towers holding up. Installation was difficult with one person so I would reccommed this be a 2 person job. The towers have to be pulled away from the vehicle while tightening the feet down. Again this is hard to do by yourself and if you're not careful the bars will bow upwards if things aren't aligned properly when being tightened. Once in place though the gutter feet really hold. I can shake the whole vehicle with the towers.

I bought these for my '98 Land Rover Discovery. Yakima guide said they would fit. They do not. They are not tall enough to clear the domed roof. The vertical tower pieces also rub against the sides of the domed roof. As a result I had to return all my Yakima products and buy Thule. Thule Super High raingutters will clear the domed roof with no rubbing. I'm sure these towers are a fine product, it would just be nice if the fit guide were accurate.